Complementary Colors In Teamwork

The use of colours within artworks is an effective technique used by artists to portray different emotions and meanings. Effectively implementing and combining colours by using different techniques can create a more in depth understanding and further express the meaning the artist is intending to show behind the work to the audience. One particular colour combination that can be used is complementary colours. Complementary colours are traditionally, the colours that appear directly opposite each other on a typical colour wheel. It has also been recently re-defined to be, the wavelengths of light that come together at full intensity to produce white light (Pridmore, 2009). Examples of complementary colours are common pairs such as yellow-purple, red-green and orange-blue. When complementary colours are used together, they help contrast each other (Pridmore, 2009). Strong contrasts aid the ability for the audience to easily and quickly distinguish borders.
Ochre Lawson in her artwork Rejuvenation explains her painting to represent the regrowth period of the Australian bush land after a destructive bushfire.
The use of acrylic paints and en plein air, meaning created in the outdoors, was used to create an emotional response from the audience. Additionally, the artists’ applied use of complementary colour techniques was a positive aid in the representation of the natural environment. The complementary colours of green and red is used to portray the natural Australian landscape, contrasting to the destruction that the fire had caused. The main focus are the black, soot-covered trees that were burnt from the fire, surrounded by tones of red and orange representing the damage caused by the fire, and green and yellow tones signifying the remaining, untouched trees and signs of new
growth.

The use of the strong contrasts between the natural substance colours of yellow, red and green give a high contrast between the black remains of tree trunks. This creates a visual effect of distinct boundaries, accentuating the new, fragile regrowth of the trees from the lifeless remains of the tree trunks.

The use of colour can also aid in the perceptual effects for the audience to achieve a particular emotion or outcome. The use of complementary colours, in conjunction with matching the luminance, or the tone of the two colours or group of colours, can make the work appear to be vibrating (Livingstone, 2002), which can be uncomfortable for the viewer. The use of vibrating colours can be also found used by painters such as Claude Monet (1887-1968), Patrick Heron (1920-1999) and Riley Bridget. Lawson’s work uses this perceptual effects of matching luminescence. The artist, Lawson, uses complementary colours of green and red with matching tonal luminance, creating a vibrating effect where both colours seem to be competing for focus, allowing the audiences’ eyes to move around the area of the artwork. Similarly, Claude Monet, within Sunrise (1872), uses the technique of complementary colours of the orange sun and blue water, however creates equal luminescence between the two colours to create the perceptual effect of vibration.

Another colour technique is the use of analogous colours, which is defined as the three adjacent colours along the traditional colour wheel. The colours used within Rejuvenation consist of shades of green and yellow. Analogous colours of greens and yellows show the rejuvenation of the natural environment. Lawson has used the Anglo-Saxon meaning of green to be the colour of life, renewal, growth and the environment. This use aid in portraying the regeneration of the natural flora. However, the Anglo-Saxon meaning of the colour red is be the colour of danger, caution and energy. This portrays the devastating effects of the bush fire and its lasting effect towards the bush land.

An alternative technique that could be used is by applying more vibrant colours. This technique could be more effective, rather than the muted hues used within the artwork that have equal luminescence to the surrounding colours. Complementary colours can be used to enhance all the colours in an artwork, making things appear more vibrant and vivid (Kuehni, 2004). This change in technique can be used, particularly with the red tones that have been symbolising the destruction caused from the fires. This alternative can increase the contrast and will create a higher disconnection between the two opposing colours. This technique of higher saturation can further emphasise the destruction and power that a natural disaster can embody.

Another alternative perception for the use of complementary colours is, that due to the fact they are completely opposite, they tend to balance each other out, rather than opposing each other (Shaver, 2011). This research has also claimed that the complementary colours contrast each other so much that the cones within our retina fatigue, hence reduce and neutralise their intensity (Shaver, 2011). In regards to this particular perception, the use of complementary colours within Rejuvenation may not be an effective technique as it is bringing harmony to the landscape, rather than disharmony, and implementing the meaning of destruction. It is not appropriate in portraying the true meaning of the work.

The use of complementary colours is an effective artistic technique that can be applied to manipulate the audience’s emotions or responses to the meaning of the artwork. Ochre Lawson has effectively implemented the use of complementary colours, including the perceptual effects of used matching luminescence between the colours to portray the natural disaster of bush fires to the Australian native landscape. The use of analogous colours, including their symbolic, Anglo-Saxon meaning, has created a deeper understanding to the intended meaning of the work. However, further techniques could be implemented to further convey her intended meaning. These techniques such as using more vibrant colours to create a stronger contrast, or not using the technique of complementary colours at all, could further portray and intended meaning of the artwork.